Planned Parenthood held a conference for children, without their parents, that included distribution of a book deemed pornography by critics.

The "Nobody's Fool" 2004 conference in Waco, Texas, this week was from start to finish a "thinly veiled attack on parental rights, public morality and the health and well-being of our children," asserted Jim Sedlak, executive director of American Life League's STOPP International, a group that monitors Planned Parenthood.

Parents were not permitted to attend the conference, which was limited to children in the fifth through ninth grades, ages 10-14, Sedlak said.

"Planned Parenthood barred mothers and fathers from attending the actual sessions because Planned Parenthood knows that parental participation would have hampered its efforts to indoctrinate these children into its world of lies and propaganda," he contended.

Children in grades seven through nine received a free copy of the book, "It's Perfectly Normal."

The controversial sex-ed primer contains detailed explanations on how to perform sexual acts and masturbation, accompanied by sexually explicit line drawings.

"This so-called 'educational text' is nothing more than pornography in comic book form," stated Sedlak.

This is irresponsible at best and child abuse at worst," he added.

On its website, Planned Parenthood of Central Texas says the purpose of the conference is "to provide teens and pre-teens with factual information about growing up, puberty, dating, relationships, sexual issues and sexually transmitted diseases, including AIDS."

The group says, "We hope this education will encourage better communication between teens and their parents. Most of all, we want your teen or pre-teen to learn how to make the most of his or her strengths and approach relationships of all kinds responsibly."

One year ago, John Pisciotta, a Baylor University economics professor, led a successful boycott of the Bluebonnet Council of the Girl Scouts in Waco because of its co-sponsorship of last year's "Nobody's Fool" conference.

Planned Parenthood passed out a book, that included the Girl Scouts logo and chapters on masturbation and homosexuality, to young girls. The book also had images of couples having sex and a boy wearing a condom.

Pisciotta took action after the council named Texas Planned Parenthood Executive Director Pam Smallwood its 2003 "Woman of Distinction."

As a result of national attention gained by the boycott, parents began removing their girls from the Scouts, leading to the closure of several troops and a decision by the council to not sponsor future conferences.

In an editorial in the Waco Tribune-Herald, Smallwood responded: "The children of Central Texas now have been given the clear message that the bullying tactics of a few are more successful than an informed democracy."

STOPP International has worked closely over the past several years with Pro-Life Waco to reduce Planned Parenthood's influence on their community, notes Sedlak.

But the problems will persist, he says, "until parents and all people of good will across the nation stand together to oppose Planned Parenthood's continued assault on our families and children."

Just wait. You'll have the libertarians show up shortly saying that there's nothing wrong with porn, even for children. Just watch.

Sounds like a story referenced in Sean Hannity's new book Deliver Us From Evil. There was this priest Robert Burkholder that molested 20 boys when he was young. He was now 82 years old being prosecuted for his crimes. Here is the priests claims,"The boys work in the rectory with the priest and you just get friendly." Also referring to oral sex the priest goes on, "It's a friendship between 2 people that has been made into something horrible, rotten."

It's amazing how someone can distort sexual abuse and try to justify it, just like Planned Parenthood is doing.

I presume that most of these parents are early "post baby boomers" who grew up with legal abortion and were taught sex education in school in the 70s and 80s. In short, they are already as brainwashed as the left wants to make their children.

Did parents actually take their daughters to this???? -Apple Pan Dowdy

Have you seen the way parents allow their daughters to dress these days?

I was having trouble grokking this article. I know Planned Parenthood is bad, but in the context of the article, it seemed like the STOPP people were just poking their noses in somebody else business. It would seem that if those parents don't like it, don't send their kids to the stupid conference.

But then I got it. Here is a well-funded, well-connected organization (PP) with many dedicated volunteers and employees. They are sponsoring these events, and with all this going on, they are inevitably having an influence in the community, which is what they want.

It is the Planned Parenthood people who are poking their noses in. They want to CHANGE THE WORLD.

"Parents were not permitted to attend the conference, which was limited to children in the fifth through ninth grades, ages 10-14, Sedlak said."

Well, let's see. A room full of kids, no parents, perps in charge passing out kiddy porn, fisting demonstrations and who knows what else, on school property, paid for with tax money; presented by Planned Parenthood, a group of people who don't plan to be parents.

Yeah, that makes sense. ;<

What doesn't make sense is where are the parents? Shooting up somewhere or what?

I guess that someone who actually believes something, is, according to you, then, a sissy!

Well, sometimes. Like when a homo says that they're gay, I say, No you're not. Experts have said that nearly 95% of homos admit to severe bouts of depression and many have either attempted or successfully accomplished suicide.

Or take dope smokers (please!). They want to legalize something that they know is not good for people, but they want society to give endorsement to their sin.

Or how about... Naw, my fingers are worn out from all this typing.

26
posted on 07/17/2004 3:59:42 PM PDT
by O.C. - Old Cracker
(When the cracker gets old, you wind up with Old Cracker. - O.C.)

Well, see there's the rub. Homosexuals don't want to keep their perversion out of our face, they want it in our face. It's their sodomy and pedophilia that makes them depressed, not a heterosexual calling them a queer or fag.

I am sick and tired of everyone taking up for a group of folks who 100 years ago would have been horsewhipped and put in prison for their behavior. Everyone enters this life with one kind of handicap or another. In the eyes of God, I am no better than the man who suffers with the temptation of homosexuality, but it is how we respond to God and our temptations that makes all the difference.

We have become a society of moral relativist pantywaists. If God made you a man, then be a bloody man and quit trying to escape your responsibility.

28
posted on 07/17/2004 4:24:51 PM PDT
by O.C. - Old Cracker
(When the cracker gets old, you wind up with Old Cracker. - O.C.)

"Planned Parenthood passed out a book, that included the Girl Scouts logo and chapters on masturbation and homosexuality, to young girls. The book also had images of couples having sex and a boy wearing a condom."

I don't suppose the eugenics Nazis are bothered by the fact that giving porn to kids is illegal, not to mention sick.

No. It's all about science - education, you see! They just want to present the facts of their Brave New World.

We have become a society of moral relativist pantywaists. If God made you a man, then be a bloody man and quit trying to escape your responsibility.

I don't really agree.

The people I have known who were gay, I think, were truly born in the wrong bodies. Being gay was not a decision they made.

I knew one woman who was married to a good friend of mine who was undoubtedly a male by nature. She could ride a motorcycle better than I could.

She wasn't happy. She drank herself into an early grave.

As far as I'm concerned, they should be left alone to do what they want. I have problems with depression myself. I figure it's up to me to deal with those problems. I don't need society making laws about what I should do. Not unless I drink and drive, or something like that.

Well, life is tough all over and to quote someone before me, "It ain't fair."

The sooner you realize that you're not the only one with problems, and that the only one who cares enough to really help you is God, then the sooner you'll be on the road to true freedom. Does everything become sweetness and light after you turn your life over to Him? Absolutely not. But the alternative is to punish yourself day in and day out like the friend of yours who drank herself to death.

And so what if someone is born with a propensity to lean more toward one temptation than another? The choice of whether they will encourage that desire rests with them and them alone. The great thing is that Jesus Christ voiced some earth shattering promises. The one that comes to mind right now is:

"Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light." Matthew 11:28-30

He dearly loves us and wants us to be with Him for all eternity. All we have to do is accept the free gift of salvation that He offers. Only His sacrifice is sufficient to wash us clean from all sin.

31
posted on 07/17/2004 4:57:34 PM PDT
by O.C. - Old Cracker
(When the cracker gets old, you wind up with Old Cracker. - O.C.)

How many of these kids were there without their parents knowledge of what was really going on? Some parents are ignorant of Planned Parenthood. Others may have thought their kids were going to a movie, etc. These kids didn't need their parents to drive them, just anyone with a car, or a city bus, or it could have been within walking distance for a few.

I gotta believe that parents who took their children to these meetings knowing that they themselves could not attend knew what they were getting into. Such a shame that parents send their children to see and hear such garbage.

"He dearly loves us and wants us to be with Him for all eternity. All we have to do is accept the free gift of salvation that He offers. Only His sacrifice is sufficient to wash us clean from all sin."

as a libertarian i can see your point believing all libertarians are sissies... we believe in personal responsibility, if parents think planned parenthood is the right venue for their children than so be it. however, libertarians do not feel the government should be in the business in funding such organizations... as some republicans have been doing.

we sissies also believe that the free market will decide a good deal more than any democratic or republican official could ever do, from minimum wages to abortion... no government funding for the practice, and the majority of libertarians stand up for the right to life of the unborn...

yes the libertarians are shackled with a drug culture fringe... but have a far better solution than what is being presented by the dems or pubbies...

as for your insistance that libertarians are sissies, it is well within your rights to express such, for sticks and stones may break my bones, yada yada yada...

atleast we are consistant in our quest for liberty...

teeman

41
posted on 07/17/2004 6:45:20 PM PDT
by teeman8r
(standing firm in beliefs one sissy at a time.... libertarians)

The last three generations of Americans simply have not been told the truth about American history. Active humanists and the liberal media have for years undertaken a concentrated effort to misinform the American public by attacking the "Religious Right" and rewriting America's Judeo-Christian history in a humanistic tone. The motto at the heart of the American experiment "in God we trust" has been exchanged for "in Man we trust." Most people do not realize that the First Amendment says nothing about the "separation of church and state." It simply states that "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof...." In the Constitution of the Soviet Union, however, the doctrine of the separation of Church and State is found: "In order to ensure to citizens freedom of conscience, the church in the U.S.S.R. is separated from the State, and the school from the church. Freedom of religious worship and freedom of antireligious propaganda is recognized for all citizens" (Article 124). Article Twelve of the 1918 Soviet Constitution decrees that no church or religious organization "shall enjoy the rights of judicial person." Instruction of children under age 18 in religious matters, whether in public or private, is against the law. The concept of separation of church and state in our Constitution is not there to protect Americans from religion. It is there to protect Americans from the government. But in their desire to promote their secular humanist philosophy using the power of government, many liberals today want to alter America's heritage and remove religion from its history. Their desire is not to safeguard denominational neutrality by the state. It is to eradicate every vestige of religion from our public institutions.

Arbitrary Law In the 1892 Supreme Court ruling in Church of the Holy Trinity vs. U.S. (citing 87 precedents), "Our laws and our institutions must necessarily be based upon and embody the teachings of the Redeemer of Mankind. It is impossible that it should be otherwise and in this sense and to this extent our civilization and our institutions are emphatically Christian." Throughout history, the U.S. Supreme Court continually cited previous cases in order to maintain our Christian Constitution. However, in 1962, for the first time in American history, the court cited no previous cases and ruled in Engel vs. Vitale that; because of Separation of Church and State, the government needed to be separated from Christian principles. So, the simple school prayer, "Almighty God, we acknowledge our dependence upon thee and we beg thy blessings upon us, our parents, our teachers, and our country" became unconstitutional and the eradication of Christianity from public institutions began. The Supreme Court, the President, or Congress do not shoulder the entire blame for these profound changes in the American cultural fabric. Far from it. Indeed, past generations of Christians and other religionists who were not involved in society or who sat silently by as the culture embraced the secular worldview are also greatly responsible.

The Educational Establishment One reason we have lost so many of our religious freedoms is that the liberal educational establishment has worked hard to eliminate our knowledge of the Judeo-Christian heritage of America. The facts nonetheless reveal the true convictions of our founders. Without question, they believed that although no one Christian denomination should dominate the nation, the principles of the Bible and Christianity should underlie our government and American education as well.

"It cannot be emphasized too strongly or too often that this great nation was founded, not by religionists but by Christians, not on religions, but on the gospel of Jesus Christ." - Patrick Henry

"Providence has given to our people the choice of their rulers and it is the duty as well as the privilege and interest of a Christian nation to select and prefer Christians for their rulers." - U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice, John Jay

45
posted on 07/17/2004 8:11:40 PM PDT
by philetus
(Keep doing what you always do and you'll keep getting what you always get)

Americans Go To War for Their Schools Despite media smear campaigns against them, Middle American parents are waging a valiant political battle against left-wing elites and their bizarre ideological indoctrination programs in the public schools. By Robert Holland Middle American News, September, 1997

One of the first symptoms of the contagion spreading through American education in the late stages of the 20th Century is the brain-numbing, often invasive probing of students' attitudes through new forms of testing. One name for this replacement for objective tests is "performance-based assessment," a technique popular with multinational corporations because it supposedly assesses how well a youngster will perform as a docile worker in a demographically diverse workgroup.

This form of assessment -- common in Goals 2000 plans being funded by the federal government this year in all 50 states to the tune of $450 million -- drives the dumbed-down curriculum that is replacing all remnants of academic rigor. Some questions call on students to respond not as individuals but as members of a collaborative group, as though in a Total Quality Management setting in industry or government. And such questions typically have no absolutely right or wrong answers. (See the examples from Kansas and Kentucky at the bottom of this piece.)

Good News

The good news is that there are courageous Middle Americans who refuse to accept meekly this radical transformation of their local schools. Parents and other concerned citizens are informing themselves, speaking up, and working for changes in school policy-making bodies -- at the risk of being smeared as "extremists" by establishment elites seeking to preserve their monopoly of power. And these everyday citizens are making a difference across the United States -- although the larger war they are engaged in is far from being won.

Consider what's been happening in that heartland state -- Kansas-- and in particular with regard to its 10-member elected State Board of Education, which exercises much power over education independently of the governor. On a 5-5 vote, the board recently refused to renew Kansas' infamous performance-based assessments. The system comes up for annual renewal and a tie vote is enough to block it. For more information:

Christian Home Educators Confederation of Kansas

Family Research Council

Town Hall

As recently as four years ago, that result would not have been possible. All 10 members of Kansas' board supported the Quality Performance Accreditation assessments that were at the heart of the state's shift to attitude-prescribing Outcome-Based Education. But grassroots activists got busy in encouraging candidacies, informing the public, and getting the vote out.

In 1994, those efforts paid off when the first two education "conservatives" -- Kevin Gilmore and Dr. Steve Abrams -- won election. In the 1996 elections, the pro-academics, anti-OBE side scored a real break-through when its ranks increased to five (half of the 10 seats are up for reelection every two years.) In 1998, the "conservatives" or traditionalists have a strong chance of gaining a working majority because only one member of their block of five -- Kevin Gilmore, who is now the chairman -- will be up for re-election.

One of the busiest and most effective grassroots activists is Cindy Duckett, president of the pro-academics Project Educate. Ms. Duckett, a Wichita homemaker who daily uses the Internet to network nationally on education issues, has showed that citizens can be effective by carefully documenting their case and calmly presenting it. Her group has invited some of the nation's most eminent education researchers to analyze the state's OBE-style standards. This is part of what Sandra Stotsky, of Harvard and Boston University, wrote about the English (or "language arts") standards:

The document is "written almost completely in unintelligible educationese...the language in this document often reads like an unintentional satire of politically correct pedagogy...Standards for demonstrating knowledge and skills are regularly mixed with standards that deal with behaviors, values, and attitudes...Incomprehensibly, students are expected to demonstrate 'respect for differences in attitude, behavior, values and beliefs within formal and informal groups' without any consideration of what and when the attitudes, behaviors, values, and beliefs of others may not be worthy of respect."

Ms. Duckett distributed a news release, widely reported by Kansas media, in which she made the point that Ms. Stotsky's evaluation justifies the move by five State Board members to abolish performance-based assessment. "If the standards are bad, the tests will be flawed, too," she said.

Struggle in Kentucky

Performance-based assessment also is taking its lumps in the first state to implement it comprehensively -- Kentucky.

Under the 1990 Kentucky Education Reform Act (KERA), the Bluegrass State instituted such assessment to measure students' "thinking skills" as opposed to their grasp of verifiable knowledge. The Kentucky Instructional Results Information System (KIRIS), hearalded by U.S. Department of Education bigwigs as a model for the nation, called on students to perform test-day "performance events," and also judged portfolios of student projects. Despite independent studies showing KIRIS' unreliability as an indicator of student achievement Kentucky used it as a high-stakes test, with schools getting rewards or penalties according to their students' scores.

For seven years, Kentucky's people have struggled against great odds to roll back this plan put in place by government, big business, and foundation swells -- with limited success. But this summer they had the pleasure of seeing the whole rotten system begin to self-destruct. On June 25, education commissioner Wilmer S. Cody announced that Kentucky was terminating its contract wit the KIRIS creator -- Advanced Systems in Measurement and Evaluation of Dover, New Hampshire -- because of errors grossly affecting the scores of most of the state's elementary and middle schools last year.

Incongruously, Cody said the company has "helped Kentucky raise standards and achievement," and in the next breath said, "but we cannot live with errors that have profound effects on the lives and careers of people in our schools." Given the millions that have been wasted on KIRIS, the state's legislative watchdog commission is not sure the ed-agency is blameless, either. Its own performance will be audited.

"It has been a hard seven years," observed Donna Shedd, one of the Louisville area anti-OBE activists. "The successes have been elusive. But so much sweeter the taste of it now." She believes the activism has had an impact in educating the public about KERA/KIRIS so the groundwork has been laid for more decisive action now that the system is crumbling. Prospects are much improves for "reforming the reform" when the legislature convenes in January.

Another major success recently has come in Tennessee, where grassroots activists and Senator David Fowler fought a rear-guard action to force hearing and an investigation of the School-to-Work system before the Volunter State spends any money on it.

Middle Americans fighting OBE, Goals 2000, School-to-Work, school-based clinics, whole language, the new-New Math, or other dumbed-down school programs find themselves branded by elites and the corporate media as "radical right" or "religious right" extremists, regardless of their true faith or political leanings. But that charge is hard to make stick against one of the most effective grassroots groups in the country, Mathematically Correct, which was formed in the San Diego area and has had an impact across the country in promoting rigorous standards for math.

The founders of MC are prominent scientists, mathematicians, and engineers who are appalled at "whole math," which encourages pupils to construct their own mathematics rather than learning the basics. The group's members, said Mike McKeown, a molecular biologist, are concerned that children will not acquire the foundation in math that is necessary for the kind of real "problem-solving" the scientists do in their jobs.

Three of the four founders of Mathematically Correct are liberal Democrats.

(Robert Holland is a writer and editor based in Richmond, VA.)

46
posted on 07/17/2004 8:18:12 PM PDT
by philetus
(Keep doing what you always do and you'll keep getting what you always get)

If God created people who were gay from conception this leaves me wondering how a just and holy God would create a person who has no hope of ever getting to heaven. The Word of God tells us in no uncertain terms that homosexuals will never have a place in heaven..the same fate awaits them that awaits murderers, idolaters, liars, thieves and drunkards...it makes me wonder why Jesus died on the cross in the first place...it wasn't just for a majority..but for every man.

Why would an all loving and just God create a human being that contradicts the Word he gave us? If the sacrifice that Jesus gave was for all mankind...it just seems absurd that God would create an unredeemable person...with no hope.

Homosexuality is a choice..just as all sin is a choice.

As far as depression goes...I suffered with it for most of my 20's...Then God gave me this illustration....

Do you remember the old arcade game of Donkey Kong..where you had to avoid barrels coming at you?..well depression is a matter of where you see yourself...are you waiting for the next barrel to overcome you or are you the one who jumps over the barrels. I spent 10 years behind the barrels....it wasn't until I became the overcomer that the depression left me. I had to choose where I was going to stand. When I feel that black cloud trying to rear it's ugly head I remind myself of the barrels and I choose to overcome rather than to be overcome. It's simplistic but it works.

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